Here is the first picture of a working prototype of the AMD Radeon HD 6000 series “Cayman” graphics card. This particular card is reportedly the “XT” variant, or what will go on to be the HD 6×70, which is the top single-GPU SKU based on AMD’s next-generation “Cayman” performance GPU. The picture reveals a card that appears to be roughly the size of a Radeon HD 5870, with a slightly more complex-looking cooler. The PCB is red in color, and the display output is slightly different compared to the Radeon HD 5800 series: there are two DVI, one HDMI, and two mini-DisplayPort connectors. The specifications of the GPU remain largely unknown, except it’s being reported that the GPU is built on the TSMC 40 nm process. The refreshed Radeon HD 6000 series GPU lineup, coupled with next-generation Bulldozer architecture CPUs and Fusion APUs are sure to make AMD’s lineup for 2011 quite an interesting one.

Source: ChipHell

Even as NVIDIA is taking its own sweet time to complete building its lineup of DirectX 11 compliant GPUs to target all market segments, AMD, which got a 6 months’ headstart into releasing its lineup, which ended up targeting all market segments in a span of 5 months, is readying the Radeon HD 6000 series for launch well within this year. Just as the Radeon HD 5000 series GPU family was codenamed Evergreen with its members codenamed after evergreen trees (such as Cypress, Juniper, Redwood, Cedar), the Radeon HD 6000 is codenamed “Southern Islands”, with its members codenamed after islands in the Caribbean (not islands in the Mediterranean).

“Bart” (after Saint Barthélemy island) is the codename for the performance/upper-mid segment GPU, a successor to the “Juniper” Radeon HD 5700 series. “Cayman” (after Cayman Islands) is the enthusiast GPU, successor to Cypress, and will go into making SKUs that succeed the Radeon HD 5800 series. Finally, the king of the hill is codenamed “Antilles” (after Antilles Islands), it is the dual-GPU SKU that makes use of two Cayman GPUs, successor to the Radeon HD 5970 “Hemlock”. AMD partners will be in a position to sell graphics cards based on these by November 2010. The Radeon HD 6970 “Antilles” should be out by December 2010. The lower-half of the family will likely release next year.

Source: DonanimHaber

Club 3D B.V. introduces the new affordable ATI Radeon HD5670 1GB GDDR5 with low power consumption and DirectX 11 support. The Club 3D ATI Radeon HD5670 1GB GDDR5 is an attractive proposition for a cost effective gaming PC and HTTPCs. With an impressive GPU cooler will keep your card running at peak efficiency while keeping the noise level down.

Come this Winter, and things will heat up once again in the graphics card industry, with GPU vendors battling it out for the crucial Holidays shopping season. While AMD did not introduce any new GPUs after completing its ATI Radeon HD 5000 series launch itinerary, it did manage to grab significant amount of sales from its graphics rival NVIDIA. For this Winter, AMD and its partners will be in a position to launch the ATI Radeon HD 6000 series graphics processors, according to DigiTimes, citing sources from graphics card vendors.

It is also said that the Radeon HD 6000 series, codenamed “Southern Islands” (members of which are codenamed after islands in the Mediterranean Sea), will be built on TSMC’s 40 nm manufacturing process. AMD had originally planned to build Southern Islands on TSMC’s 32 nm process, but with the foundry skipping 32 nm bulk for 28 nm which will start operations only by the end of the year, AMD redrew its plans and stuck to the now-mature (stable) 40 nm process. Perhaps AMD learned a thing or two from a wide range of teething problems that plagued the 40 nm production line.

Source: DigiTimes

MSI unveiled a new low-profile graphics card based on the ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics processor. The MSI R5670-PD512 uses a half-height PCB and [apparently] single-slot design. It uses a dual 40 mm fan-based air cooler that bears some resemblance to the Twin Frozr II cooler, only a lot more compact. The card has 512 MB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit wide memory interface. The Radeon HD 5670 is DirectX 11 compliant, and packs 400 stream processors. Display outputs include DVI-D, HDMI with 7.1 channel audio, and detachable D-Sub. The card utilizes “Military-grade” components, such as solid-state chokes, and all solid-capacitors. The card should be available soon.

Gigabyte displayed a new non-reference Radeon HD 5750 based graphics card that boasts of being silent (passive cooling) that’s also up to 18 °C cooler than the reference active cooler. The GV-R575SL-1GI or Gigabyte HD 5750 Silent Cell uses a large passive heatsink that spans across two slots and is a little taller than the card itself. The cooler is an aluminum fin array to which heat is conducted by three copper heat pipes. Display outputs include dual DVI, DisplayPort and HDMI, and it can pair with any other Radeon HD 5700 series graphics card. The card draws all its power from the PCI-E slot. Like every other Radeon HD 5750 card, it has 720 stream processors, is DirectX 11 compliant, and uses 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit wide memory interface.

HIS designed a new silent Radeon HD 5570 graphics card. Having a silent design, the GPU is cooled by a large heatsink that takes up two expansion slots, and uses ridged aluminum fins to increase surface area. As with every other HD 5570, it is based on the 40 nm Redwood GPU, having 320 stream processors, DirectX 11 compliance, and 512-1024 MB of GDDR3 memory across a 128-bit wide memory interface. Display connectivity includes one each of DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort.

Here are some of the industry’s first low-profile graphics cards based on the ATI Radeon HD 5700 series GPUs. PowerColor’s approach is straightforward, with a somewhat long PCB that houses the HD 5700 series GPU, and 1 GB of GDDR5 memory with chips on either sides of the PCB. With over a billion transistors, the Juniper GPU still needs a reasonable amount of cooling, so the card is given a double-slot cooler with an aluminum heatsink that is cooled by two 50~60 mm fans. The card draws power from a single 6-pin power connector. Output connectivity includes one DVI-D, and an HDMI. PowerColor will release both Radeon HD 5770 and Radeon HD 5750 in using this low-profile design.

AMD is planning a major update for the ATI Radeon HD 5670 mainstream graphics card. Currently based on the 40 nm Redwood core with specifications which include 400 stream processors, 512 MB / 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit wide memory interface, the updated HD 5670 will be based on the larger Juniper core (on which are based HD 5750 and HD 5770). On the HD 5670, the Juniper will have 640 of its 800 stream processors enabled, while having the same memory interface of 128-bit GDDR5 @ 1000 MHz (4 GHz effective).

The core will be clocked at 750 MHz. Since the nomenclature remains the same, it is safe to assume that the price will be remain unchanged, around $90 for the 512 MB, and $110 for the 1 GB variant. Leading AIB partners such as PowerColor and Sapphire seem to be ready with their board designs which are essentially identical to those of their Radeon HD 5700 series products. Unlike the HD 5770 reference, the new HD 5670 will be able to make do without an additional PCI-Express power input. Looking purely at the specifications, the new HD 5670 will be able to perform on par with the Radeon HD 4770 in present applications, with the added DirectX 11 and hardware tessellation support. With CrossFireX connectors on some designs, these card will have the ability to pair with more than two of their kind. There is no word yet on the availability.

Source: inpai.com.cn

MSI recently added the CX705MX, a supersized 17.3" laptop equipped with the ATi Radeon HD 545V discrete graphics card, to its Classic notebook computer series. It is clad in color film print (with MSI’s exclusive classy cross hatch design) for extra protection against scratches and wear. The 45-degree beveled edge construction is unique to MSI. Mobile computing was never so classy.

MSI Marketing Director Sam Chern points out that the CX705MX comes equipped with the ATi Radeon HD 545V discrete graphics card for excellent multimedia performance and that, despite the oversized screen, this notebook is a lightweight, tipping the scales at less than 3kg. Add to that the stylishly elegant body, graced with MSI’s own cross hatch design, the CX705MX allows you and your friends to enjoy an audio/visual feast whenever and wherever you like.